Community News
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New fire station for Mount Macedon
Mount Macedon Fire Brigade has welcomed a new fire station, better equipping volunteer firefighters to respond to emergencies and protect the community. Macedon MP Mary-Anne Thomas visited the station on Friday to officially open the facility and congratulate brigade members. The state government provided more than $4 million to acquire the land and build the…
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The ‘Williams Manoeuvre’
I first met Lisa Williams when YIMBY were out looking for new composters in her street in north-west Castlemaine. We needed to replace two of the original YIMBY composters who were ‘retiring’ and we already had neighbours in the street leaving out buckets of food scraps on bin night, we just needed to find a…
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Kindness to Elders felt in Ranges
Some of the shire’s most esteemed elders were in the spotlight for a ‘Kindness to Elders’ event at Jubilee Hall, Macedon, for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day earlier this month. Leading the event was Athol Guy, of The Seekers fame, and joining him in telling their stories were Janet Wood, Jack Harris, Colin Cook and…
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New hub for Trentham
It’s hosted weddings, birthdays, dances and school concerts for well over a century and now a brand new Mechanics Trentham has been delivered to an enthusiastic local community. The state-of-the-art facility includes a playgroup space, library and study nooks, workspaces, visitor information, a commercial-style kitchen and a large function space. The new space incorporates elements…
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Trentham, Lancefield to host cup
Trentham and Lancefield will play host to the $750,000 18-carat-gold Melbourne Cup trophy as part of the 2024 Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour. The 22nd edition of the annual tour will visit Trentham on Wednesday October 16 and Lancefield on Thursday October 17. Olympic basketballer Chris Anstey successfully applied to have the cup visit Trentham where…
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Winter Warmer Workshop
Is it really possible to keep our compost hot in these cold winter months?If you’ve been following the Compost Conversation, you will undoubtedly know that the reason compost gets hot has little to do with the outside temperature, or position in the sun, and almost everything to do with how well we are feeding and…
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Working to minimise alcohol-related harm
A Community Alcohol Profile undertaken by Mount Alexander Shire Council last year found that residents in the shire had a higher than average overall rate of alcohol consumption and a higher rate of single occasion risky drinking (53.3 per cent) compared to the Victorian average (41.8 per cent). The profile also found that Mount Alexander…
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Legendary legacies
Two local schools, Chewton Primary School and Castlemaine Steiner School and Kindergarten, have been announced as winners in the 2024 ResourceSmart Schools Awards held in Melbourne last Tuesday. Chewton Primary School, which has just 87 students, was recognised with the ResourceSmart School of the Year award for its work to incorporate First Nations’ perspectives into…
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Meat and dairy … in or out?
I’m sure you have come across the claim that you can’t or shouldn’t compost meat scraps and dairy products. Given how often it is repeated, it must be true … mustn’t it? Perhaps it is time to channel our inner ‘toddler’ and ask “why?”. If we can understand the reasons ‘not to compost meat and…
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Fashion for foodbank
The Kindness Collective at Kyneton is hosting an Op Shop Fashion Parade fundraiser this month to help raise funds for the Kyneton Foodbank. Amid cost-of-living pressures, the Kindness Collective is seeing daily increases of people signing up to use the foodbank and coming in for soup kitchen lunches. “The fashion parade fundraiser will help us…
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Reconciliation recognition
Mount Alexander Shire Council’s Australia Day – Survival Day event has been recognised with a Reconciliation Victoria award. The event was among the winners of the 2024 Maggolee Awards, which celebrate and recognise strong partnerships between Victorian local governments and First Nations Peoples. Castlemaine Australia Day – Survival Day is a community event held annually…
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Harcourt Farming Co-op recruiting
Harcourt Organic Farming Co-op is recruiting new farmers and enterprises. The co-op is a collaboration of diverse organic and regenerative farmers who lease land on a single farm in Harcourt. Katie and Hugh Finlay own the farm and began the co-op to diversify the farming on their land and give young farmers an entry point…